Shadows At Midnight
by EmeraldLava
Summary: An ancient problem is arising. Will humans unite with legendaries to defend their home world?  *A Pokemon Ranger: Shadows Of Almia fic*
1. Chapter 1: The Meeting

**Hi strange people reading this. So, um, this story was inspired by the game: Pokemon Ranger, Shadows Of Almia. However, for my plot, this story doesn't follow the game at all-but I might have some event in the game occur in the story. Oh, and, because I love the Non-Player Character Keith, he's my protaginist :)**

**One more note I should mention; due to the idea of writing this being spontaniously thought of, the plot itself is kinda... Slow moving... because I was just writing as I went-with a general idea of plot-and then POOF! Another idea for plot. Then BAM! Another idea. Then WHAM! Another idea.**  
><strong>Thus this story will probably be long. But I've finally settled on one plot which I'm kinda following!<br>**

**Shoot, I'm rambling. :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon!**

~~~  
>Chapter One: The Meeting<br>~~~

Flames erupted, swallowing the entire room with that fiery passion humans labeled fire. The building I was in-what did they call it? 'Ranger School' or something? Whatever. It didn't matter. After all, the building _was_ being burned to the ground currently. By me, of course.

Who am I? You ask. I, am none other than the legendary Entei. Yes, I entered this practically deserted rural area searching for someone to claim as my partner. That's right. A human to take back with me when I return to one my homes in the vast volcanoes, spread across the regions.

What did you say? Humans can't withstand the heat of lava? Well under my protection they could!

Ahem, as I was saying, I came to find a human partner-you know, to communicate with the volcano locales, to warn the humans of when danger is arriving, and, yes, I do have certain responsibilities as a guardian. I am, after all, the entity of fire, and, therefore, protect those who live around my fiery habitats.

Am I rambling? My apologizes. Wait, where was I?

Oh, yes. I came to this Ranger School seeking a human with potential-possibly a prodigy- to my disappointment, there was no one qualified enough to meet my standards. No one I tell you! No one!

I rampaged through that useless building, tearing down everything and smashing every last trace into charred ashes. In my anger I unleashed more, and more, fire, slashing out at everything in sight. I raced through that building, the heat cleansing my pelt. Until I stopped short when I turned a corner. A brunette girl with spiky pigtails, no older than fourteen, confronted me. There she stood, poised for action, a green styler in hand and some other-he presumed to be-students behind her. Entei smirked; she was a foolish girl if she thought she could take him on.

"Kate, no, don't!" A boy with surprisingly spiky scarlet hair-appearing to be around the same age-called out to the girl.

Entei quirked a brow and gazed at the frightened boy as he spoke once more to the girl, "Kate, don't even _think_ of trying, that's the legendary _Entei_! A freaking _legendary_! We're still in school, it's too dangerous to try and capture a strong Pokémon like that with the styles and skills we have!"

Undeterred, the girl gritted her teeth, "No, Keith, I have to try."

Entei raised a brow once more; he liked the determination the girl had. Perhaps him coming to the Ranger School wasn't a mistake after all. Entei narrowed his eyes. But first he'd have to test her.

The boy with ginger spiked hair, stomped his foot, "Dang it Kate!" He shouted voice strained from the smoke, "Fine! But by the time I come back after getting these people outta here," Suddenly he grinned cockily, "You better not have lost, otherwise I'll have to win for you!"

He whirled around-but not before seeing the faint trace of a smile play out on his friend's lips-and ordered all the bystanders to hurry. Running towards the exit, he paused to pick up a classmate of his. Next, he swiftly commanded a few other students to pick up the people whom had already fainted due to smoke. Then, with one last glance over his shoulder at the girl, he fled with the others.

"Now then..." The girl turned to face the canine but stiffened when she realized it wasn't in front of her anymore, "Wha- Where...?" Kate, hearing the sudden movement of air rushing through her bangs, whirled around and rolled, just in time to dodge the incoming Fire Claw attack from Entei.

She gritted her teeth and raised her school styler, it was all or nothing for her. She had to at least distract the legendary to give her friend enough time to get himself, and the others, a safe distance away from the burning building. With her skills, that was all she could do.

Entei roared and leaped. Kate rolled, swinging her styler in circles. The battle had begun.

~(**)~

Keith, breathing hard as he dashed back down the burning hallways, chuckled darkly. If Kincaid were here seeing him run-even in the blazing smoke filled building-he'd be given a lecture right then and there. With a shake of his head, Keith turned a corner leading to the room he previously was in, before he had left the building with the other students. Spotting the door, he quickened his pace, burst through the door.

And froze.

There, lying on the ground covered in wounds and burns-along with ashes-was his friend Kate. Not too far from her stood Entei, his gaze fierce and unsatisfied as he stared at the girl, and then the recently entered boy.

The shock took a minute to register in his mind before he screamed, "KATE!"

Running up to his old friend, he kneeled down by her side, cringing at her injured form.

He shook her gently, "Kate..." His tone gentle, "Kate, please tell me you're okay... Please, don't die on me Kate..."

A subtle movement and slowly opening eyes caught his attention. He leaned forward, ignoring the flames, and ignoring the growing pain of breathing in smoke.

"I'm... Okay... But barely..."

A flicker of a smile flashed on his lips before he gathered her into his arms. He chuckled darkly, trying to find a way to lighten the mood in the ever-growing sad moment. Thus he whispered softly to his near unconscious friend.

"But Kate... Don't you realize I had to run all the way through the halls to get here in time to save you? What if Mr. Kincaid had seen me running?"

Kate smiled softly, her eyes closing, "Well then I guess you'd come running, and I'd have to hear you complain to me about another thirty minute long lecture, huh..."

Her eyes closed and the boy laughed softly to himself, "Yeah... I'd always come running to you..."

The boy stood slowly, girl in hands, and eyes masked by his bangs. He glowered at the canine that stared smugly at him.

"You hurt Kate, and for that, I'll make sure you regret what you did to her."

_"I regret nothing"_

The boy blinked, surprised that a pokemon could talk to him, before gritting his teeth. He couldn't stand around scolding a pokemon while his friend was unconscious in a fire! He turned his back to the legendary.

"You're... Not worth my time..."

Entei raised a brow curiously as the boy. With his head still slightly bowed, the teen strolled out of the room, before breaking into a sprint towards the exit.

_"Not worth your time, hm?" _A smirk began to etch its way onto the legendary canine's features, _"We'll see, foolish boy, how much I'm not worth you're time."_

The fire legend chuckled and turned,_ "Soon, my boy, soon, we will meet again."_ and left the burning building with a wave of its billowing mane.

~(**)~

Keith hurried outside, Kate in his arms. Once outside, he collapsed, panting. His friends: Isaac, Rythmi, and Kellyn-who were waiting frantically for him and Kate-noticed the duo and started to shout, running towards them. All voices and words meant nothing to him, though, as blackness coated his vision and he passed out.

~(**)~

**A work in progress! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon!**

~~~Chapter Two~~~

A girl with spiky pigtails groaned as she opened her eyes. Dazedly looking around, she noticed she was lying on a bed in what was apparently a hospital room. She shifted a little and flinched, gritting her teeth, she silently cursed the legendary fire being. She wouldn't even _be_ in a hospital bed if it weren't for that canine scratching her up as badly as it did. Sighing, she shook her head. Then again, it _was_ half her fault. She was the one who decided to try and capture the overwhelmingly strong beast, and being a Ranger isn't a sweet walk-or is the saying 'cake walk'? Bah, it didn't matter.

Rolling onto her left side-facing the door-she blinked, blanking out on something important that happened _after_ she battled Entei. After all, she didn't leave the building by herself; someone had to have carried her out of there, but who...?

She gasped.

Keith.

Keith was the one who came back for her.

But was he okay?

Rolling onto her right and more wounded side, ignoring her protesting injuries, her gaze searched the room. Immediately, her gaze rested on the sleeping figure dressed in loose white hospital clothing similar to her own, facing her, and laying on the bed next to her. She relaxed slightly; leave it to that dolt to be snoozing away while she worried about him. Laughing softly to herself, she stared at his face. Who knew when he was asleep he could appear so calm?

Usually that goofball was always smiling his bright, wide, and signature mischievous grins. He'd always be plotting some prank to pull on some unsuspecting victim. He was creative in his pranking methods. He'd also have that playful smile on when he knew he'd been caught red-handed. However, he could be clever and sly when wiggling his way out of harsh situations or confrontations. He was intelligent and book-smart, yet he did not care to show that side of him, he preferred acting care-free-he had more fun that way. Although he did act childish and enjoyed bragging, he was also rash and stubborn, easily provoked, and hot-blooded. He could also be insanely determined and thickheaded when he wanted to be. Despite all that, he was a caring, and michievious, person who loved making people smile-as well as striving to help others.

"I'm glad you're alright, Spiky."

The ginger opened his eyes and smiled at her, she raised a brow, had he been awake the entire time?

"Same goes for you, Ginger."

Keith chuckled, then winced as he broke into a coughing fit, "Stupid smoke..." He muttered.

Kate opened her mouth to speak but hesitated. Keith, failing to notice her slacked jaw, continued to speak.

"You know, that Entei was a pain! Did you see how he burnt the entire Main Building to ashes? Well, you couldn't have since you fainted, well, I did too, but not before I saved your sorry butt! You shoulda seen me! I was on fire! Well, not literally of course, but, you know what I mean. Anyway, I was so amazing! Too bad you weren't conscious to see me wipe the floors with Entei! And-"

"Your bragging lies are making my ears bleed." Kate interrupted him.

Keith pouted, lips starting to twitch into a grin, "I'm not lying."

"Yes you are! See! You're starting to smile like you always do when you're caught lying!"

Keith turned his head away from the girl, the grin now having taken over his face, "You're just upset that I saved your butt back there."

Kate snorted, "You really should get that nose of your checked, because it looks like it's growing longer, Pinocchio."

Keith chuckled to himself, "Whatever."

Suddenly Kate frowned.

"Hey," He blinked, "What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking... Why do you think Entei came to our school in the first place?"

Keith made a face, "I don't know, but if we meet him again, I'll mop the floors with him."

A smile played itself on her lips, "Suuure, are you sure you're training to become a Ranger? Last time I checked, Pokémon Rangers don't 'mop the floors' with Pokémon they capture."

"What? With the long hair-or is it fur? Eh, it doesn't matter-"He waved a hand nonchalantly, "that he has, he'll make a pretty useful mop, you know!"

Kate rolled her eyes, "But seriously, why did Entei come to our school?"

Her friend cast his gaze to the white tiled floor, "I don't know," he admitted, "I'm just as confused as you are. But," he looked up at her, "Entei's gone now, so we shouldn't worry about him."

Sighing, she stared at the ceiling, "Yeah, I guess you're right..."

Rolling onto her left side, a breath of relief escaped her mouth, glad to be laying on the less cut up side. The red-head, having heard the sound, perked his ears.

"Kate?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Didn't you ask me that already?"

"Yeah... But that noise..."

She rolled her eyes once more, "Keith," she chided, "I'm trying to sleep now."

There was a pause.

"Why?"

Kate wanted to slap her forehead, or at least slap some sense into the boy, instead she calmly explained, "Because we both need to rest and recover from our injuries. I figure I should hurry and get better so while your still laying around groaning because you didn't rest when you should have, I'll be fully healed to deal with you."

"Ouch." He said sarcastically, "That hurts Kate, hurts. You're making my injuries worse. See? Look, my finger's bleeding."

Kate shook her head and chose not to respond.

Keith smirked and spoke in a baby voice, "Owy, maybe you should kiss it and make it better."

Stifling a half-sigh and half-chuckle, Kate muttered, "How did you get a paper cut in a hospital room lacking books? Forget that, since when do you read?"

Keith grinned, successfully detouring her from her original plan with his not-so-fancy-lie-story, "Well, you see, it's a funny story actually..."

Kate then chose to promptly ignore him and shut her eyes.

"Hey. Kate? Are you listening? Kate~ Kate? Kaaaate. Kate. KataKataKataKata!" Eventually the persistent boy sighed, giving up on continuing to annoy the girl. He pouted to himself, now he was bored with no one to talk to-well, that wasn't true. But the other someone in the room was just going to ignore him, so it's pretty much the same thing as talking to no one. With a shake of his head, he was about to roll over onto his right side-the side facing the wall-when he noticed his friend's steady, even breathing, in pace with the rise and fall of her chest-well the side of her chest from his viewpoint.

He blinked and wondered what kind of wounds his companion had sustained from her fight with Entei, surely much worse than his if she was able to fall asleep that quickly when he was around pestering her. Glancing around nervously, he slowly slid out of his bed and approached hers. Close up, he could see just how many small ointment coated, cuts and burns were on her face.

Involuntarily, Keith sharply took in air, hissing with a slight sense of sympathy for his buddy-knowing fully well she must have been hurting more than she let on. He sagged his shoulders slightly, perhaps his teasing helped distract her focusing on her injuries. That, or he'd made her worse. He smiled, slightly, knowing Kate he'd probably helped her. She'd be back on her feet in no time flat.

Satisfied that his friend was alright-kinda-he edged backwards and was about to slip back into his bed when a murmur from his sleep-talking temporary roommate made him hesitate.

"People who... Stare at people... when they're sleeping... are... rude..." She trailed off, obviously entering a deeper level of sleep.

Keith blushed, instinctively raising his shoulders in embarrassment. Only to flinch when the burns on his skin rubbed together and he let his shoulders drop. The loose hospital clothing he was wearing slid gently around his collarbone from his movement. Slowly lowering himself back under the covers, ignoring most of his minor burns, he leaned against the pillows and closed his eyes.

A dreamless sleep soon followed.

~(**)~

The red-head was abruptly awoken by a loud squeal. Shooting up in his bed-which was a grand mistake on his part as he was sent groaning back into the pillows-the pain of his injuries suddenly made aware to his mind.

"KEITH!" A girl-who he failed to recognize- screamed.

"Wha-?"

Wearily Keith lazily slid his gaze over to the door as he slowly sat up. Quirking a brow in surprise, he was suddenly attacked by a girl moving fast enough to be a blur as she flew through the air. She crashed into him, pushing him back into the pillows in the process.

"OW!" Keith exclaimed, trying to push the girl off of him

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay? That fire was fierce! How's your burns? You're face is all cut up and bruised and burned! Did you really meet Entei? And-"

"AGH!" Keith shouted, interrupting the stranger, "Get off! You're giving me more bruises!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Immediately she clambered off of the still injured boy and hopped onto the floor.

Now that she was standing still, Keith finally got a good look at her. She was young, around nine years perhaps? Only five years younger than him. She wore her long blonde hair in a high side ponytail on the left side of her head, leaving her remaining bangs to curve around her right eye in a child-like fashion. Her eyes were bright, and her smile perky as she gazed at him with wide green orbs. Four happinny trailed behind her, slowly and caustiously-yet curiously-entering the room.

Having finished looking her over, Keith spoke, "So, um, who are you?"

The girl smiled, giggling happily, "Mimi's name is Mimi!"

Keith felt a brow rising in slight surprise when he heard the child adress herself in third person.

"Er... Okay..." He brightened, "Well, my name's The Amazing One, but you can call me Keith."

He extened a hand for her to shake, which she took happily giggling.

But of course, there is always someone who must ruin his moment

"Are you filling a young child's head with lies again, Keith?"

Keith smiled innocently, leaning a little to the side to peer behind Mimi, "My dear Spiky," He chuckled, "Whatever could I be lying about?"

The pig tailed girl snorted, her expression amused, as she calmly met his gaze, "Oh yes," she mocked, sarcasm dripping from her tone, "You are so amazing, and wonderful, I am awed by you're presence oh, The Amazing One."

Keith cheery grin grew wider, "I knew you thought I was amazing!" Happily he leaned back into his pillows, singing.

"Spiky thinks I'm amazing! Spiky thinks I am wonderful! Spiky, oh, Spiky, Spiky loves m-"

Suddenly a pillow decided to body slam his face and tackle him off the bed.

"OW!" Keith exclaimed, getting on his knees and slinging an arm onto the bed, "You didn't need to throw me off the bed, Spik-"

"AGH!"

Keith ducked to avoid another pillow sailing his way. He grinned idiotically, obviously forgetting about the visitor and his injuries as he picked up a pillow of his own. Holding the fluffy object protectively over his head, he peeked above the bed to watch Kate. A smile of her own was lit on her face as she met Keith's stare, a challenge glinting in her eyes as she plotted a stradegy. Keith's grin widened. Quickly he reached for a previously assailing pillow laying near him on the floor. Smiling to himself, he took aim, and threw.

Apparently Kate was playing baseball.

Using the pillow in hand, she whacked the pillow back at him. Surprised, Keith failed to duck in time to avoid being hit, and thus was sent sprawling to the floor. Hyper on laughter now, he grabbed a pillow, and chucked it back at Kate without looking.

Too bad his aim was off.

The pillow socked the visitor and she went falling to the floor. The four Happiny rushed to her side, looking worried.

Kate stifled a laugh as she asked if the girl was okay. Keith, on the otherhand, was far worse off. Unable to hold back his laughter, he rolled on the floor, clutching his stomach as he laughed at his victim. Grinning like an idiot, he continued to laugh with his eyes closed.

That was a mistake on his part.

"Oh, Ginger~"

Assailing pillows began pouring attacks at him, laughing manically, he tried to dodge them. However, outnumbered by soft squares and two girls along with four Happiny-the visitor had joined in the battle-he was easily beat.

But not for long.

The girls ran out of ammo, Keith had all the pillows now.

Getting to his feet, still hyper from fun, Keith smirked and raised pillow filled hands.

The war had only just begun.

~(**)~

After many battles, Keith lost-but he would never admit he did, instead choosing to claim he was tired and didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings if he made them lose. The trio, having calmed down, gathered the pillows and put them back properly on each bed. Kate and Keith, now tired and sore, climbed back into their own beds.

It was then that Keith remembered something relatively important.

"Oh, hey," he began, looking at the young girl, "You said your name was Mimi, right?"

The girl looked at him, and nodded, "Yep!"

Keith glanced at the four Happiny behind her, all playing with one another, before he returned his gaze to the girl, confusion in his eyes, "I never met you before, and I've never seen you around here, so how did you know my name and about Entei?"

Mimi smiled, "Oh, that's easy! Papa told Momma, and Momma told Mimi!"

Keith cocked his head, "Papa?"

Kate, having heard the conversation, drifted her gaze over to the girl, listening.

Mimi blinked, confused, but then her eyes cleared as realization sunk in.

"You don't know? Mimi's papa is Mr. Lamont."

Keith raised a brow, still slightly annoyed by the way she addressed herself in third person, but nonetheless decided to query, "Your father's this school's principle?"

"Yep!" she replied cheerfully

"Okay then..." Keith shrugged, unsure of what to say now.

A few minutes of silence passed until a nurse entered the room. Upon spotting the young girl, she told her the two students needed rest. The young girl happily walked over, waved farewell, and left.

The nurse shifted her attention to focus on the two students.

"I hope she wasn't too much trouble." The lady apologized.

Keith grinned, "Nah, she was fun."

The nurse smiled and turned to Kate, "Kate, your bandages need to be changed now," Kate nodded and the nurse proceeded to help her to the bathroom, locking the door, and leaving the jokester alone.

He pouted, "Wait, now there's no one to talk to..."

~(**)~

A few minutes passed and Kate finally walked out of the bathroom with the nurse's aid.

"Keith," The nurse spoke, walking over, "Your turn."

Keith sighed, "Yea, yeah, okay, I know," and followed the nurse to the bathroom.

~(**)~

After being re-patched, the nurse left, leaving Keith to plop onto his bed and stare at the cieling.

Silence.

"I'm hungry." Keith whined.

Kate sighed.

And threw a pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi people. So, in this story, I'm pretending the Ranger School has three buildings instead of two: the Main building (where the dorms and classes are located in the game) the Training building, (when you first start playing and have to capture a Pikachu) and finally: the Third building (yes, I'm going to call this made-up building the Third building because I lack the idea for a name) Anyway, the Third building is of medium size, and only contains a total of three rooms: the two dorm rooms, and a lounge between the two. The Third building is completely based off of the Main building's upstairs floor. (Yes, unoriginal, I am) Blah, too much rambling.  
>Now, onwards with my novice story! <strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon!**

~~~Chapter Three~~~

Days passed, and eventually Kate and Keith had healed enough to finally return to their dorms-which had been relocated into a different building due to the fire burning.

Keith sighed, today was Thursday, and Spring Break would start the next day. While he _was_ happy for a week off, he couldn't help but not want to leave-he'd miss Kate.

Currently, he was sitting on a couch in the lounge. To his left: The girl's dorm. To the right: the boy's. The main building was slowly being reconstructed-the workers had to remove the ashes and debris first-and so classes were being held in the Training building.

Classes had ended for the day, so people were free to roam-but Keith was too lazy to stand up and walk outside where everyone was. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. Besides, the only topic on people's tongues was Spring Break.

Wait, was that Kate walking out of the girl's dorm to go outside?

Maybe he could spend some time under the sun after all.

~(**)~

The following day, classes were boring as usual: Keith was barely able to pretend to be concentrating. Luckily, though, classes ended early for Spring Break. When the bell rung, Keith was one of the first to stand and dart out the room. However, instead of running to grab his items from the boy's dorm, he raced to Ascension Square.

Having escaped the rushing crowd, Keith successfully managed to arrive at the Pledge Stone in one piece. He looked up at the large monument, a thoughtful frown on his face. Glancing around-making sure no one was around to watch him-he strode to the dock and peered out at the water. Checking behind himself one more time, he got to his knees and slid off the dock, landing on a soft pile of water lapped sand. Ducking slightly-as the dock wasn't that high off the ground-he walked beneath the wooden pier, heading for the Special Spot.

Swiveling his gaze around one last time, he trotted along the shoreline, his gaze intent on the shrubs. Once within arms reach, he shifted the branches of the bush, revealing a secret passage-way unnoticeable to the eye-if one was unaware of the tunnel's existence, that is. Getting on his hands and knees, he crawled through the greenery. Eventually he came to a halt, in front of him was a blockage of randomly assembled branches, twigs, and leaves. Raising a hand, he carefully arranged the sticks to create an opening.

He crawled through, entering the small clearing and squinting as direct sunlight washed over his eyes. He smiled to himself as he stood, his eyes having adjusted to the sudden light change after being in the dim green tunnel. To his right: white sand colored shore and sun reflecting ocean. To his left: tall and short sized growing trees, along with a shrub or bramble here and there. Directly in front of him: a medium sized, stout tree. Being thick in width, and stretching downwards under the weight of many apples, Keith had become fond of the old greenery. Not only that, on a previous visit, he had named this large plant, 'Hollow Tree.'

Keith chuckled and plucked a ripe apple from the nearby branch. The elderly tree had a simple yet strange design etched on its bark. On the wooden surface, there was a black, half-moon scar starting at the bottom on the right side of the tree. The scar slithered upwards a good three feet, arched another three feet to the other side of the tree. Then ended three feet from the bottom of the tree. He walked forward, tracing a finger along the drawn-out dark line. Tapping three times with his knuckles on the upper right side of the tree-just beneath the black line-and knocking thrice near the bottom of the tree, he stepped backwards.

The bark door swung open, allowing entrance. Keith grinned to himself. Although he'd never know how an apple tree could have bark that could naturally open and close like a door and not break. (A/N: I can dream, can't I?) Or why there was a nice wide and tall space _inside_ the tree big enough to fit him-and still have room left overhe was just happy the tree existed.

Munching on the apple, Keith stepped into the tree, features glowing as he cast his gaze around. Everything in the yellow-orangish wooded tree-which was only the satchel containing his most precious item-was in the same exact place he left it. Striding over to his brown leather bag, he kneeled and lifted the object into his arms, standing in the process. Turning on his heels, he walked out of the tree, closed the bark door, and skipped to the sandy shore.

He sat and stretched his legs. Keith gently placed the satchel onto his lap and flipped open the flap, revealing a sketchbook inside. Pulling out the object, along with his handy pencil and green diamond shaped eraser, he skimmed through the pieces of paper until he found a clean, empty page. Although he'd never admit to anyone, his favorite past time and hobby was to draw.

He was the kind of guy with a soft spot for scenery art, even poetry, but he definitely didn't want anyone to find that out about him-he'd be made fun of for weeks! Besides, keeping his Special Spot-the clearing and tree-and his favorite hobby a secret was fun. He liked having something special to him be unknown to people.

He started to sketch.

The clearing and tree remained untouched by any other human who could pollute or destroy the little isolated, and clean area. Also, due to the clearing being uncharted in any other human's mind, that meant that the secrets was his and his alone. The two secrets made him feel special, and he didn't want the clearing to be ruined by other's presence. It was as simple as that.

However, secrets don't stay as secrets forever.

A rustling behind him alerted him to someone else's presence. He bristled, anticipating someone to voice themselves soon. Keith blinked, confused, hadn't everyone gone home already though? Surely the being behind him wasn't a person then, right? Slowly, he turned.

And came face to face, inches away, from a girl with spiky pigtails.

"Kate!" Keith squeaked, jerking backwards, startled at the close proximity of their faces.

"Hi Keith!" She cheerily replied, before cocking her head. "What are you drawing?"

Keith glanced at his sketch and quickly covered the image with his hands, his face heating up and turning a nice shade of pink.

"N-Nothing!" He spluttered, embarrassed. "H-How did you get here anyway?"

"Followed you." She stated simply before leaning forward, eyes on the picture. "Now then, what were you drawing?"

"None of your business!" He knew he should have covered up the entrances of the shrub-way.

"Come on, you can tell me!"

Oh great, she's probably gonna tell everybody at school about his Special Spot.

"No."

"Pleeeease."

And about his hobby.

"No."

"Pretty please~"

Not only that, people would come and ruin the clearing!

"No."

"Aw come on, it can't be _that_ bad."

"No." He replied stubbornly.

Kate sighed, "Ugh, fine."

Keith relaxed.

Big mistake.

Kate took the chance and lunged for the drawing, snatching the sketchbook out of his hands and quickly darting away before Keith could stop her.

"KATE!"

Kate giggled, now on the other side of the clearing, and looked at the drawing. Her giggling stopped short, though.

The drawing was amazing, completely realistic-down to the slightest detail.

But that's not what surprised her.

The sketch was of her.

A. Drawing. Of. _Her_.

Her jaw lowered slightly and Keith yanked his sketchbook out of her grip, face a vibrant crimson. He clutched his precious item against his chest so a blank page stared at her from her viewpoint.

"Keith...?" she began.

"I-I-uh, I just-I was-I-um-wasn't thinking-I-I-randomly sketching-I didn't mean-I didn't think-I-I just-" Keith stammered and stuttered, unable to string words together in a coherent sentence, too embarrassed to think straight.

But it was true, he _hadn't_ been thinking when he had started to sketch his friend in her student uniform. His mind had been elsewhere while his fingers moved on their own.

Kate, on the other hand, was stifling a laugh. She grinned mischievously.

"I saw the picture, Ginger~"

Keith apparently thought the white sand was highly interesting.

"You know what that means right?" She sang.

Yep, the sand was definitely more interesting.

"You have to complete the picture and give it to me when your done."

Keith blinked and jerked his gaze up at her.

"Wait, what?"

She grinned, "It's a drawing of me, so _of course_ you have to complete it. After all," she nodded as if she were very important. "I _am_ The Great One, any drawings of me must be finished and submitted to my fan mail."

Keith stared at her before shaking his head, his features breaking into a grin. "Oh, you mean The Amazing One is now just a fan and not a friend? Ouch, Spiky, that hurts."

Kate grinned, shrugging. "I suppose you can be both, my loyal servant."

Keith growled playfully. "Oh, I'm a servant, now am I?"

"You're also It."

She laughed and darted away into the trees. Keith placed his sketchbook back into his bag, slung the satchel onto his shoulder, and chased after her.

Leave it to Kate to have her own style of being supportive for his hobbies. He knew he could trust her, and she wouldn't spill about his Special Spot.

But first, he had to tag her back.

~(**)~

After a few games of Tag-Your-It, resulting in Keith being the winner, the two returned to the Special Spot and plopped themselves on the sand to stare at the ocean.

"So how did you find this place? It's nice." Kate began.

Keith sighed, and he laid down to watch the cloudless sky.

"It's a long story..."

"I got time."

He snorted. "Wonderful." He then chuckled. "Actually, I think it's a kinda funny story..."

"I'm waiting~"

"Are you sure you want to hear? It's embarrassing..."

"Get to the point."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you." He took a breath.

"So at the time-it was about a year ago, obviously before you transferred here. I was standing at the edge of the rocks by the dock. I had been watching the water, so I didn't notice when I put too much weight on one of my legs-I can't remember which. The next thing I knew, the rock beneath my feet had crumbled and I was falling down the ledge. When I had finished tumbling, I got to my feet, but as it turns out, I sprained my ankle."

Kate hissed. "Ooo, that's gotta hurt."

Keith nodded and continued, "well, I looked for a way to climb up, and I saw a path that _looked_ kinda stable. So I walked over-okay, limped-and lifted myself onto the rockface and started my ascent. Turns out my little adventure led me side scaling to the point where I was above the shrub-way."

His friend looked at him, confused. "Shrub-way?"

He chuckled, "um, that's what I call the shrub tunnel."

She raised a brow at him, but said nothing more.

"Anyway," he continued once more, "so I was steadily moving upwards, but of course the rocks under my feet had to crumble beneath me. I fell-again-"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Sure, blame the rock; you're just clumsy."

Keith ignored her, "but this time when I fell, I ended up falling through the shrub-way-I fixed the ceiling of it later. Anywho, I had nothing better to do. So I crawled through the tunnel and, well, that's how I wound up finding this clearing. I call it my Special Spot." He smiled.

His classmate looked at him, "Okay, let me get this straight. First you fell down a ledge by the dock. Then you limped over to more rock. Tried to climb even when you _knew_ you had a sprained ankle. Fell again. Landed butt first through some thicket that somehow had space to move. Crawled through because you had nothing better to do, other than finding a way to get back to school-evidently not important on your list. After crawling, you found this place, and call it your 'Special Spot'?"

Her companion nodded. "Yep."

Kate whacked his head lightly. "Smart."

"Hey!"

"What? I just complimented you."

He huffed, "sarcastically."

She ignored him and glanced at the tightly knitted thicket. "Poor shrub, you dented it."

"Hey!"

~(**)~

Eventually The two friends left the clearing and returned to the School's dorms building-Keith had figured out, when he first fell a year ago-that he could climb onto the dock if he piled large rocks in a stair-like formation and then walk up them.

The two parted ways in the lounge to gather their own possessions. In the boy's empty dorm room, it was then that Keith remembered something important.

"I forgot to ask Kate, Kellyn, and Rythmi if they'd want to hang out over Spring Break!" He groaned and slapped his forehead, "stupid..."

Suddenly the door swung open.

Standing there was Kellyn, Kate, and Rythmi in front.

"_You_ may have forgotten, but _we_ didn't." Keith rolled his eyes, of course Rythmi would remember.

The quadruplet then exchanged numbers and addresses to contact one another with.

It was then that Kate decided to shout.

"GROUP HUG!"

The four friends laughed and gathered one another into a hug. Together they walked out of the building and to the school gates. After bidding farewells and promises to see each other over break, they parted ways, each heading for their own home.

~(**)~  
><strong>Hooray for newbies and seemingly pointless plots! Not only that, but hooray for fictional bark doors and making an unoriginal building that is a complete copy of the Ranger School's Main building!<br>Sigh...  
>Anywho, I'm done rambling now. :)<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**I just _now_ noticed that some odd days ago my story was reviewed. (wow, I'm so observant. Not.)  
>Anywho, I want to thank those two reviewers: St Almo's Fire and Pokelover0ash. Also-after reading St Alm's Fire's review-I agree that the first chapter needs some work so I'll improve that chapter sometime in the future.<br>Thank you two for reviewing, I appreciate it. :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon! Or the board game Sorry.**

~~~Chapter Four~~~

Keith sighed, he was standing in front of his house in Pueltown, his bag in one hand, his key in the other. Sliding the key into the lock and turning, he opened the door with a slight push. He peered inside only to see no one standing in the tan carpeted hall. He opened the door wider and stepped inside, drawing in a deep breath, he called.

"I'M HOME!"

Silence.

The boy felt a pout growing on his lips as he strolled down the hallway, then turned to face the door to his left. Glancing inside, he rolled his eyes. No one sitting on the couch facing the TV in the living room. Walking inside his gaze scanned the walls, the pictures of him and his family-along with some of his drawings of scenery-were still in the same place since the last time he entered his home.

Walking straight, he sauntered over to the kitchen. Shifting his focus, he frowned, no parents in the kitchen, or his younger sibling playing a board game at the eating table either. Was anybody home waiting for him? With a shake of his head, he exited the kitchen and living room, instead choosing to walk further down the hallway. He passed a bathroom to his right, not that he cared much. Eventually the hallway widened more and he turned to his right to journey up the white-carpeted stairs.

Upon arriving at the top floor, his eyes searched for anyone. His gaze settled on his younger sibling's room, the closest one to the stairs. Turning left, his turned the knob and swung open the door.

"YO!" He shouted.

No reply.

He snorted.

Even his sibling was out?

Ouch, family, ouch.

Suddenly a mischievous grin spread on his features: if his family wasn't there to greet him, then he'd just have to greet them in his own way.

Starting with his sibling's room.

Darting out of the room, he scurried to his own room-diagonally across from his sibling's room. Bursting through his door, he hastily hurried to a corner of his room where his fire-designed bed sat. Skidding to a halt on his orange with pale green, darker orange, slight traces of red and yellow squiggle designs, colored carpet. He crouched. Flattening his belly to the floor, he slid himself forward beneath the bed. Imagination kicking in, he army-crawled to the corner where his secret stash of pranking tools lay beneath an orange blanket.

Grinning to himself, the fourteen year old boy pulled off the blanket and took the washable markers, his signature paper, and tape from his supply. Along with his favorite 'game' outfit-consisting of red, orange, and yellow army print on his cap, shirt, and pants-he army crawled out.

Once in the open once more, he cast his gaze around his room. Satisfying relief washed over him when he finally registered the familiar surrounding. Behind him, sat his bed. Not too far in front of him, was a bare light blue wall with a door on the left wall. Diagonal from him was his closet filled with clothes and a second secret supply of tool, and his desk facing the wall next to the closet. Above the desk was a window, and to the right of the window a simple yellow clock. To his right was a plain, empty wall-excluding the window and clock-save for the lone white shelf sponsoring his favorite sketch. A moon-lit scenery at a park with Volbeat and Illumise floating above a spraying water fountain surrounded by Gracedia flowers.

He sighed contentedly. All in all, his room was pretty bare, but roomy: just the way he preferred it to be. He blinked. He should probably put his plan in motion.

Swiftly tugging on his pranking clothing, as well as using washable orange marker to mark his signature orange stripes on his cheeks. Grinning with paper, markers, and tape in hand, he adventured out of his room and to his younger sibling's.

Once inside, he glanced around, noting that his sibling's room was actually messy for once-as toys such as stuffed pokemon and board games-were spread out randomly on the floor. Stepping carefully through the crowded floor, he arrived at the bed which was centered in the middle of the wall by the door. He pulled out one of the paper sheets sporting little flame designs at the bottom of the page.

Smiling, he quickly scribbled on the page with a red marker.

_'Keith is the best older brother! Ever!'_

Giggling, he taped the front of the page and carefully placed the paper atop his sibling's favorite pillow, as well as sliding the covers over the message. That way, should his sibling not be paying attention and happened to pull the covers back and press their face or back against the pillow, then the message would stick to them, much to their irritation once they find out.

He laughed. Next mission: paste messages all throughout room!

Having already chosen the next target, he hurried over.

The closet.

Opening the wooden door, he quickly scribbled another message.

_'I LOVE Keith!'_

And pasted.

Shifting his gaze, he located the next victim: the desk.

Dashing across the room, in his ever growing glee, he opened the little drawer and wrote another message.

_'I worship KEITH!'_

And pasted.

Deciding to add one last message as he slid the desk drawer shut, his eyes scanned the room for his final victim.

His eyes widened with pleasure.

His sibling's absolutely favorite stuffed toy: Mew.

He walked over to the toy laying on the ground and kneeled. Swiftly he jotted a message.

And pasted.

_'Keith is awesome! I am a loser!'_

Keith snickered at his final touch before standing and leaving the room, shutting the blue painted door behind him. Scuttling back to his room and removing his pranking clothes. He crawled back under his bed and stored his belongings. Once done, he crawled out and left his room, closing the door in the process.

Deciding to waste time and check his parents room, he strolled forward and opened the door-not to his surprise-his parents weren't inside. With a shake of his head, he closed the door and sighed. Until his sibling returned, he'd have no one to pester and tease. He sighed again.

He was alone.

He was lonely.

There was no one to play with.

Keith pouted.

And he was _bored_.

~(**)~

After waiting impatiently, he decided he'd scare his parents when they returned. His plot: Jumping out at them from his hiding spot near the couch. He tapped his foot and gazed at the ceiling, frustrated with waiting. Until he finally heard the front door open. His father was the first to speak.

"Finally! We're home!"

His sibling was next, "I wonder if Big Brother arrived already..."

He could imagine his mother shrugging, "You never know with that boy."

His father laughed, "He _does_ take after you."

"Really? I always thought _you_ were the one he gets those genes from."

His father snorted, "And who's the one who got us lost on the way back from Vientown, making us late? You, if I'm not mistaken."

"Ouch, Lunick, ouch."

His father laughed while Keith tried not to snicker as the footsteps drew nearer.

Keith held his breath

_3..._

Footsteps entered the living room.

_2..._

Someone sat on the couch.

_1..._

The TV clicked on.

"CAPTURE ON!"

Keith leapt from his hiding spot and tackled the unsuspecting couch potato. The victim? His father.

"GAH!" His father shouted in surprise-red headband falling off-while he flailed his arms as he was thrown of the couch.

His orange-reddish haired sibling squealed and raced over, "Big Brother!"

Keith laughed, "Hey, Summer, how ya doin'?"

"I'm good."

His teal haired mother walked over, chuckling, "Well if it isn't Keith. Who would have thought you'd arrive home before us?"

He grinned until his father decided to speak up.

"Oi, aren't we forgetting someone?"

Keith's mother glanced at him, "Oh? And who might that be?"

His father rolled his eyes, "Ha. Ha. Very funny. Keith, can you get offa me now?"

His son smiled mischievously, "Capture complete." and climbed off the parent.

The man snorted, "I'm a pokemon now?"

The three other people chuckled. Keith's mother leaned forward, offering a hand.

"Eh, well if you style your hair a bit, you might be able to pass as an over-grown Minun."

The man accepted her outstretched hand and she helped him to his feet, picking up his head band and placing it back around his forehead in the process.

"At least my hair doesn't defy gravity."

The woman smiled, "Touché."

Keith coughed, "Hello? Aren't I the visitor here?"

His sister looked innocently at him, fiddling with the blue and red colored goggles on her head, "What? You're still here? I thought you left already. Oh, darn."

Keith scowled, "Come 'ere you!"

His sister laughed and fled out of reach, an annoyed teen boy hot on her trail.

"Try not to break anything!" Their mother called when the two ran into the hallway and out of sight.

"Lunick..." The tied in a ponytail that somehow stood straight in the air- haired woman turned to face her husband.

"Yes, Solana?" The navy blue-styled in a way that one could imagine a baby bird had spread its wings while being connected to his head-haired man glanced at his wife.

"What did I do to ever deserve a miniature clone of you?"

He laughed and pulled her red forehead-band over her eyes.

"I don't know, Lana, I just. Don't. Know."

~(**)~

Keith chased his sister up to her room. Unfortunately for him, though, she locked the door, preventing him from entering. Keith snorted, knowing better than to knock down a door over a petty skirmish and headed downstairs. He strolled into the kitchen and plopped himself in a chair by the table.

"What's wrong?" His father queried

"Soup locked her door."

"Ah." Lunick nodded, sitting next to his son.

"Yeah, but" Keith suddenly grinned, "my plan should now be set in motion."

Lunick raised a brow, intrigued, "Plan?"

Hearing the conversation, Solana walked over, "What have you done now, Keith?"

The boy grinned innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about, mommy."

Solana quirked a brow, "Mommy?"

Keith smiled.

"Okay. Now I _know_ you've done something. Probably involving your sister, like usual."

Lunick grinned in a similar fashion, "I sure hope so, I'm in need of seeing a good prank."

"Nick! Don't _encourage_ him!"

Father and son high-fived. Solana rolled her eyes, she'd have to get them back later.

Keith blinked, noticing something amiss, "Oh, hey, where's Plusle and Minun?"

Solana sat down across from her son, "Currently they're with a close friend of mine for the day. They wanted to see you, but we had some things come up, so we had to have them stay. We'll be picking them up tomorrow-you can come with us if you want-I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

"Who? The pokemon or your friend?" Keith joked.

Solana smiled, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, "Ha. Ha."

Her son stood up and casually strolled over to the marbled counter. After choosing a bag of chips, he walked back to his seat and sat down. Opening the bag, he began to stuff his face.

Suddenly a shuffling noise and stomping upstairs could be heard.

Keith grinned and began to count down in his head.

_3..._

_2..._

_1..._

"MOMMY!" His sibling screamed.

"Yes, dear?"

Keith chuckled as his sister came running into the kitchen waving one of his messages frantically. Solana and Lunick glanced up at their daughter, amusement written as their expressions.

"Mommy, Daddy! Lookie! Lookie! Look at what Big Brother wrote!"

"Well?" Keith began, trying not to smirk with his mouth stuffed with food. "What does it say?"

His little sibling read aloud, unwittingly falling into the trap, "Keith is awesome. I am a loser."

She blinked.

"HEY!"

The teen swallowed and burst into laughter, "I couldn't have said it better myself!"

"Mommy!" His sister ran to their mother. "Big Brother's making fun of me!"

His mother rolled her eyes, "Keith," she scolded. "What have I told you about pranking your sister?"

"What? No one was home!" Keith protested, laughing uncontrollably.

His mother sighed.

"Let me see." Their mother reached out her hand, palm face up. His sibling gave her the message, still grumbling and annoyed at her brother.

"Keith..." Their mother began again, "After dinner, clean the dishes and wash laundry."

His smile vanished, as the words sank in, "I was FRAMED!" He wailed. "No! Please! Anything but that! I didn't do it! She's FRAMING ME!" He weeped dramatically, one hand of his face, the other outstretched in the air.

His mother shook her head, trying not to smile at his antics, "Go to your room if you're going to complain."

Keith stood from his seat and headed for the stairs before throwing his final words over his shoulder.

"I. Was. FRAAAAMED!"

Summer smiled and hummed to herself, skipping out of the room.

Solana sighed contentedly, "Say, Nick, it seems our boy hasn't changed a bit."

"I know, isn't it great?" Solana snorted.

"He takes after you."

"That's what makes him great!"

Solana shook her head, grasping a nearby seat cushion.

And hurled it at her husband's face.

~(**)~

Keith plopped himself in a chair by the kitchen table. Dinner had been prepared and set out on the table while he had been reading a comic book in his room. Shortly after he had sat down, his mother strolled into the room, his sister not that far behind. Keith's gaze swept over the various assortment of food, "Hamburgers, accompanied by mashed potatoes and mac 'n' cheese. Salad. Soda. Water... Yep, sounds good to me." Keith grinned.

His father chuckled and sat down across from his son, "I figured you'd want your favorite meal when you returned."

Keith gasped, "You cook? Since when?"

The man snorted, "Ha. Ha. You're mother taught me how."

"I just hope you didn't burn the food..."

"Keith!"

The teen stuck out his tongue playfully at his father.

"Solana!" Lunick whined. "Your son's being mean to me!"

"It's your fault for raising him that way."

Lunick pouted.

"Say..." Keith turned to look at his younger sister next to him. "You're birthday passed while I was away at school, right?"

His sibling nodded, "Yep!"

"So you're, what? three now?"

She stomped her foot, "I'm six for your information!" and grumbled to herself, crossing her arms. "Meanie..."

Keith chuckled and ruffled her hair, "Of course I know how old you are, Little Sis, I was just teasing ya."

She snorted and rolled her eyes.

They ate in silence for a few moments, Keith wolfing down food, Summer grumbling, Lunick lost in thought, and Solana eating calmly. Eventually the small family finished their meal and began to clean up.

"Remember, Keith, you have to wash the dishes now." Solana reminded.

"Aww..." He groaned.

"And make sure you scrub every last pice of dirt off!"

Keith sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Solana snorted but said no more.

~(**)~

"This is gross!" Keith whined loudly. "This is unfair! I'm suppose to be on vacation, and you're making me _work_! Not. Cool! Not cool at all!."

"Oh hush and just wash the dishes." His mother chided, waving a hand dismissively as she read the Almia times newspaper.

The teen grumbled to himself as he scrubbed a plate. His father and sister were in the living room. Having pulled out the special Game Board Table-as Summer calls it. They were playing a board game, presumably Sorry from his father's gleeful shouting.

"SORRY~ GO BACK TO START, SUCKA! HAHAHA!" There he goes again...

"No fair!" His sister whined. "You cheated!"

"The cards don't lie." His father replied smugly.

"Unless if you've got a Sorry card hidden in your sleeve..." She grumbled back.

"Hey, now, don't my sleeves look a little on the short side?"

"You coulda done some card trick or something!"

"_Suuuure_. It's your turn."

Keith snickered, imagining his sister roll her eyes.

"I got a seven!" she squealed, "That means I can enter home _and _knock one of your pieces back to start! HA! Who's the loser, now? HA!"

"We'll see... Ha! I got a two! So I'll just move this piece out of Start and..."

Keith stopped paying attention, having grown bored of listening to them play. His mother was lounging in a chair by the dinner table, eyes still scanning through the paper. Keith wouldn't have cared normally, but when he noticed her eyes start to sparkle, he had to query. However, his mother began to answer what he was about to ask.

"Hey... Well, what do ya know? Come check this out, Keith!"

"I think I'm tad busy."

"Oh hush and come over here."

"Fine." Keith rinsed his hands and grabbed a washcloth. Drying his hands, he walked over. "What is it?

"The annual Almia Festival is going to be occurring in a few days!"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well I was thinking we could go."

"Why?"

"Keith, must you be so difficult?"

Keith gave a cheeky grin.

"Look, you could invite your friends." Solana tried to bargain. "Say, what about inviting that nice girl you wrote about in your letters. What was here name? 'Kate' I think?"

Keith's face colored and he searched for a change in topic, "Uh... I guess I'll ask her, Kellyn, and Rythmi if they want to come." Solana nodded, smirking. "So, um, what's the date and time for the party?"

"Festival." His mother corrected. "It begins at nine O'clock on Thursday."

"And today's Friday..." Keith mumbled to himself. "Okay." He stood. "I'll call the others tomorrow."

His mother nodded, folding the newspaper and placing it atop the table to stretch, "Good night, Keith."

Keith walked out of the kitchen and through the living room, glancing at his relatives along the way. Out in the hallway, he finally replied to his mother, as well as speaking to his father and sister.

"Night."

~(**)~

**Okay, so just pretend that Solana and Lunick are old enough to be Keith's parents. Also, pretend that Summer is his sister. This is fanfiction, I can dream here! Can't I?  
>Ahywho... That's all I have to say so... Bye! :)<strong>


End file.
